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Du X, McManus DP, French JD, Sivakumaran H, Johnston RL, Kondrashova O, Fogarty CE, Jones MK, You H. Lentiviral Transduction-based CRISPR/Cas9 Editing of Schistosoma mansoni Acetylcholinesterase. Curr Genomics 2023; 24:155-170. [PMID: 38178986 PMCID: PMC10761339 DOI: 10.2174/1389202924666230823094608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Recent studies on CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in Schistosoma mansoni have shed new light on the study and control of this parasitic helminth. However, the gene editing efficiency in this parasite is modest. Methods To improve the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in schistosomes, we used lentivirus, which has been effectively used for gene editing in mammalian cells, to deliver plasmid DNA encoding Cas9 nuclease, a sgRNA targeting acetylcholinesterase (SmAChE) and a mCherry fluorescence marker into schistosomes. Results MCherry fluorescence was observed in transduced eggs, schistosomula, and adult worms, indicating that the CRISPR components had been delivered into these parasite stages by lentivirus. In addition, clearly changed phenotypes were observed in SmAChE-edited parasites, including decreased SmAChE activity, reduced hatching ability of edited eggs, and altered behavior of miracidia hatched from edited eggs. Next-generation sequencing analysis demonstrated that the lentiviral transduction-based CRISPR/Cas9 gene modifications in SmAChE-edited schistosomes were homology-directed repair predominant but with much lower efficiency than that obtained using electroporation (data previously published by our laboratory) for the delivery of CRISPR components. Conclusion Taken together, electroporation is more efficient than lentiviral transduction in the delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 into schistosomes for programmed genome editing. The exploration of tactics for enhancing CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing provides the basis for the future improvement of programmed genome editing in S. mansoni.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofeng Du
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Donald P. McManus
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Juliet D. French
- Cancer Research Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Haran Sivakumaran
- Cancer Research Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Rebecca L. Johnston
- Cancer Research Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Olga Kondrashova
- Cancer Research Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Conor E. Fogarty
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - Malcolm K. Jones
- School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, Australia
| | - Hong You
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, Australia
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Du X, McManus DP, French JD, Collinson N, Sivakumaran H, MacGregor SR, Fogarty CE, Jones MK, You H. CRISPR interference for sequence-specific regulation of fibroblast growth factor receptor A in Schistosoma mansoni. Front Immunol 2023; 13:1105719. [PMID: 36713455 PMCID: PMC9880433 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1105719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Employing the flatworm parasite Schistosoma mansoni as a model, we report the first application of CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) in parasitic helminths for loss-of-function studies targeting the SmfgfrA gene which encodes the stem cell marker, fibroblast growth factor receptor A (FGFRA). SmFGFRA is essential for maintaining schistosome stem cells and critical in the schistosome-host interplay. The SmfgfrA gene was targeted in S. mansoni adult worms, eggs and schistosomula using a catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9) fused to a transcriptional repressor KRAB. We showed that SmfgfrA repression resulted in considerable phenotypic differences in the modulated parasites compared with controls, including reduced levels of SmfgfrA transcription and decreased protein expression of SmFGFRA, a decline in EdU (thymidine analog 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine, which specifically stains schistosome stem cells) signal, and an increase in cell apoptosis. Notably, reduced SmfgfrA transcription was evident in miracidia hatched from SmfgfrA-repressed eggs, and resulted in a significant change in miracidial behavior, indicative of a durable repression effect caused by CRISPRi. Intravenous injection of mice with SmfgfrA-repressed eggs resulted in granulomas that were markedly reduced in size and a decline in the level of serum IgE, emphasizing the importance of SmFGFRA in regulating the host immune response induced during schistosome infection. Our findings show the feasibility of applying CRISPRi for effective, targeted transcriptional repression in schistosomes, and provide the basis for employing CRISPRi to selectively perturb gene expression in parasitic helminths on a genome-wide scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofeng Du
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia,Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Donald P. McManus
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia,Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Juliet D. French
- Genetics & Computational Biology Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Natasha Collinson
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Haran Sivakumaran
- Genetics & Computational Biology Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Skye R. MacGregor
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Conor E. Fogarty
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, QLD, Australia
| | - Malcolm K. Jones
- School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia
| | - Hong You
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia,School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia,*Correspondence: Hong You,
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Fogarty CE, Zhao M, McManus DP, Duke MG, Cummins SF, Wang T. Correction to: Comparative study of excretory–secretory proteins released by Schistosoma mansoni-resistant, susceptible and naïve Biomphalaria glabrata. Parasit Vectors 2022; 15:421. [PMID: 36368998 PMCID: PMC9652980 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-022-05439-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Fogarty CE, Phan P, Duke MG, McManus DP, Wyeth RC, Cummins SF, Wang T. Identification of Schistosoma mansoni miracidia attractant candidates in infected Biomphalaria glabrata using behaviour-guided comparative proteomics. Front Immunol 2022; 13:954282. [PMID: 36300127 PMCID: PMC9589101 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.954282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Schistosomiasis, caused by infection with Schistosoma digenetic trematodes, is one of the deadliest neglected tropical diseases in the world. The Schistosoma lifecycle involves the miracidial infection of an intermediate freshwater snail host, such as Biomphalaria glabrata. Dispersing snail host-derived Schistosoma miracidia attractants has been considered a method of minimising intermediate host infections and, by extension, human schistosomiasis. The attractiveness of B. glabrata to miracidia is known to be reduced following infection; however, the relationship between duration of infection and attractiveness is unclear. Excretory-secretory proteins (ESPs) most abundant in attractive snail conditioned water (SCW) are key candidates to function as miracidia attractants. This study analysed SCW from B. glabrata that were naïve (uninfected) and at different time-points post-miracidia exposure (PME; 16h, 1-week, 2-weeks and 3-weeks PME) to identify candidate ESPs mediating Schistosoma mansoni miracidia behaviour change, including aggregation and chemoklinokinesis behaviour (random motion, including slowdown and increased turning rate and magnitude). Miracidia behaviour change was only observed post-addition of naïve and 3W-PME SCW, with other treatments inducing significantly weaker behaviour changes. Therefore, ESPs were considered attractant candidates if they were shared between naïve and 3W-PME SCW (or exclusive to the former), contained a predicted N-terminal signal peptide and displayed low identity (<50%) to known proteins outside of the Biomphalaria genus. Using these criteria, a total of 6 ESP attractant candidates were identified, including acetylcholine binding protein-like proteins and uncharacterised proteins. Tissue-specific RNA-seq analysis of the genes encoding these 6 ESPs indicated relatively high gene expression within various B. glabrata tissues, including the foot, mantle and kidney. Acetylcholine binding protein-like proteins were highly promising due to their high abundance in naïve and 3W-PME SCW, high specificity to B. glabrata and high expression in the ovotestis, from which attractants have been previously identified. In summary, this study used proteomics, guided by behavioural assays, to identify miracidia attractant candidates that should be further investigated as potential biocontrols to disrupt miracidia infection and minimise schistosomiasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conor E. Fogarty
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QL, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QL, Australia
| | - Phong Phan
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QL, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QL, Australia
| | - Mary G. Duke
- Infection and Inflammation Program, Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QL, Australia
| | - Donald P. McManus
- Infection and Inflammation Program, Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QL, Australia
| | - Russell C. Wyeth
- Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada
| | - Scott F. Cummins
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QL, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QL, Australia
| | - Tianfang Wang
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QL, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QL, Australia
- *Correspondence: Tianfang Wang,
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Fogarty CE, Suwansa-ard S, Phan P, McManus DP, Duke MG, Wyeth RC, Cummins SF, Wang T. Identification of Putative Neuropeptides That Alter the Behaviour of Schistosoma mansoni Cercariae. Biology 2022; 11:biology11091344. [PMID: 36138823 PMCID: PMC9495596 DOI: 10.3390/biology11091344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Elucidating the infectivity of Schistosoma mansoni, one of the main etiological agents of human schistosomiasis, requires an improved understanding of the behavioural mechanisms of cercariae, the non-feeding mammalian infective stage. This study investigated the presence and effect of cercariae-derived putative neuropeptides on cercarial behaviour when applied externally. Cercariae were peptidomically analysed and 11 neuropeptide precursor proteins, all of which were specific to the Schistosoma genus and most of which highly expressed in the cercarial stage, were identified in cercariae for the first time. Protein–protein interaction analysis predicted the interaction of various neuropeptide precursors (e.g., Sm-npp-30, Sm-npp-33, Sm-npp-35) with cercarial structural proteins (e.g., myosin heavy chain and titin). In total, nine putative neuropeptides, selected based on their high hydrophobicity and small size (~1 kilodalton), were tested on cercariae (3 mg/mL) in acute exposure (1 min) and prolonged exposure (360 min) behavioural bioassays. The peptides AAYMDLPW-NH2, NRKIDQSFYSYY-NH2, FLLALPSP-OH, and NYLWDTRL-NH2 stimulated acute increases in cercarial spinning, stopping, and directional change during active states. However, only NRKIDQSFYSYY-NH2 caused the same behavioural changes at a lower concentration (0.1 mg/mL). After prolonged exposure, AAYMDLPW-NH2 and NYLWDTRL-NH2 caused increasing passive behaviour and NRKIDQSFYSYY-NH2 caused increasing body-first and head-pulling movements. These findings characterise behaviour-altering novel putative neuropeptides, which may inform future biocontrol innovations to prevent human schistosomiasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conor E. Fogarty
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
| | - Saowaros Suwansa-ard
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
| | - Phong Phan
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
| | - Donald P. McManus
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Mary G. Duke
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Russell C. Wyeth
- Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5, Canada
| | - Scott F. Cummins
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
| | - Tianfang Wang
- Centre for Bioinnovation, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4556, Australia
- Correspondence:
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Du X, McManus DP, Fogarty CE, Jones MK, You H. Schistosoma mansoni Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor A Orchestrates Multiple Functions in Schistosome Biology and in the Host-Parasite Interplay. Front Immunol 2022; 13:868077. [PMID: 35812433 PMCID: PMC9257043 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.868077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Stem cells play significant roles in driving the complex life cycle of Schistosoma mansoni. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor A (SmFGFRA) is essential for maintaining the integrity of schistosome stem cells. Using immunolocalization, we demonstrated that SmFGFRA was distributed abundantly in germinal/stem cells of different S. mansoni life stages including eggs, miracidia, cercariae, schistosomula and adult worms. Indeed, SmFGFRA was also localized amply in embryonic cells and in the perinuclear region of immature eggs; von Lichtenberg’s layer and the neural mass of mature eggs; the ciliated surface and neural mass of miracidia; the tegument cytosol of cercariae, schistosomula and adult worms; and was present in abundance in the testis and vitellaria of adult worms of S. mansoni. The distribution pattern of SmFGFRA illustrates the importance of this molecule in maintaining stem cells, development of the nervous and reproductive system of schistosomes, and in the host-parasite interplay. We showed SmFGFRA can bind human FGFs, activating the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway of adult worms in vitro. Inhibition of FGF signaling by the specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor BIBF 1120 significantly reduced egg hatching ability and affected the behavior of miracidia hatched from the treated eggs, emphasizing the importance of FGF signaling in driving the life cycle of S. mansoni. Our findings provide increased understanding of the complex schistosome life cycle and host-parasite interactions, indicating components of the FGF signaling pathway may represent promising targets for developing new interventions against schistosomiasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofeng Du
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Donald P. McManus
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Conor E. Fogarty
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Malcolm K. Jones
- School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia
| | - Hong You
- Infection and Inflammation Program, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- *Correspondence: Hong You,
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Ni G, Liu X, Li H, Fogarty CE, Chen S, Zhang P, Liu Y, Wu X, Wei MQ, Chen G, Zhang P, Wang T. Topical Application of Temperature-Sensitive Gel Containing Caerin 1.1 and 1.9 Peptides on TC-1 Tumour-Bearing Mice Induced High-Level Immune Response in the Tumour Microenvironment. Front Oncol 2021; 11:754770. [PMID: 34858827 PMCID: PMC8632150 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.754770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of topical cream drugs that increase the immune activation of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes against tumour and chronic viral infection-associated lesions is of great immunotherapeutic significance. This study demonstrates that the topical application of a temperature-sensitive gel containing caerin 1.1 and 1.9 peptides reduces nearly 50% of the tumour weight of HPV16 E6/E7-transformed TC-1 tumour-bearing mice via improving the tumour microenvironment. Confocal microscopy confirms the time-dependent penetration of caerin 1.9 through the epidermal layer of the ear skin structure of mice. Single-cell transcriptomic analysis shows that the caerin 1.1/1.9 gel expands the populations with high immune activation level and largely stimulates the pro-inflammatory activity of NK and dendritic cells. Closely associated with INFα response, Cebpb seems to play a key role in altering the function of all Arg1hi macrophages in the caerin group. In addition, the caerin gel treatment recruits almost two-fold more activated CD8+ T cells to the TME, relative to the untreated tumour, which shows a synergistic effect derived from the regulation of S1pr1, Ccr7, Ms4a4b and Gimap family expression. The TMT10plex-labelling proteomic quantification further demonstrates the activation of interferon-alpha/beta secretion and response to cytokine stimulus by the caerin gel, while the protein contents of several key regulators were elevated by more than 30%, such as Cd5l, Gzma, Ifit1, Irf9 and Stat1. Computational integration of the proteome with the single-cell transcriptome consistently suggested greater activation of NK and T cells with the topical application of caerin peptide gel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoying Ni
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China.,Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia.,Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.,The First Affiliated Hospital/School of Clinical Medicine of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University , Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaosong Liu
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China.,Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia
| | - Hejie Li
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia.,School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia
| | - Conor E Fogarty
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia.,School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia
| | - Shu Chen
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China
| | - Pingping Zhang
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China
| | - Ying Liu
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China
| | - Xiaolian Wu
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China
| | - Ming Q Wei
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| | - Guoqiang Chen
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China
| | - Ping Zhang
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| | - Tianfang Wang
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia.,School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, Australia
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Ni G, Yang X, Li J, Wu X, Liu Y, Li H, Chen S, Fogarty CE, Frazer IH, Chen G, Liu X, Wang T. Intratumoral injection of caerin 1.1 and 1.9 peptides increases the efficacy of vaccinated TC-1 tumor-bearing mice with PD-1 blockade by modulating macrophage heterogeneity and the activation of CD8 + T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Clin Transl Immunology 2021; 10:e1335. [PMID: 34429969 PMCID: PMC8369845 DOI: 10.1002/cti2.1335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Developing a vaccine formula that alters the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes to be more immune active against a tumor is key to the improvement of clinical responses to immunotherapy. Here, we demonstrate that, in conjunction with E7 antigen-specific immunotherapy, and IL-10 and PD-1 blockade, intratumoral administration of caerin 1.1/1.9 peptides improves TC-1 tumor microenvironment (TME) to be more immune active than injection of a control peptide. METHODS We compared the survival time of vaccinated TC-1 tumor-bearing mice with PD-1 and IL-10 blockade, in combination with a further injection of caerin 1.1/1.9 or control peptides. The tumor-infiltrating haematopoietic cells were examined by flow cytometry. Single-cell transcriptomics and proteomics were used to quantify changes in cellular activity across different cell types within the TME. RESULTS The injection of caerin 1.1/1.9 increased the efficacy of vaccinated TC-1 tumor-bearing mice with anti-PD-1 treatment and largely expanded the populations of macrophages and NK cells with higher immune activation level, while reducing immunosuppressive macrophages. More activated CD8+ T cells were induced with higher populations of memory and effector-memory CD8+ T subsets. Computational integration of the proteome with the single-cell transcriptome supported activation of Stat1-modulated apoptosis and significant reduction in immune-suppressive B-cell function following caerin 1.1 and 1.9 treatment. CONCLUSIONS Caerin 1.1/1.9-containing treatment results in improved antitumor responses. Harnessing the novel candidate genes preferentially enriched in the immune active cell populations may allow further exploration of distinct macrophages, T cells and their functions in TC-1 tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoying Ni
- Cancer Research InstituteFirst People’s Hospital of FoshanFoshanGuangdongChina
- Genecology Research CentreUniversity of the Sunshine CoastMaroochydore DCQLDAustralia
- The First Affiliated Hospital/Clinical Medical SchoolGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Xiaodan Yang
- The First Affiliated Hospital/Clinical Medical SchoolGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Junjie Li
- The First Affiliated Hospital/Clinical Medical SchoolGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Xiaolian Wu
- Cancer Research InstituteFirst People’s Hospital of FoshanFoshanGuangdongChina
| | - Ying Liu
- Cancer Research InstituteFirst People’s Hospital of FoshanFoshanGuangdongChina
| | - Hejie Li
- Genecology Research CentreUniversity of the Sunshine CoastMaroochydore DCQLDAustralia
| | - Shu Chen
- Cancer Research InstituteFirst People’s Hospital of FoshanFoshanGuangdongChina
| | - Conor E Fogarty
- Genecology Research CentreUniversity of the Sunshine CoastMaroochydore DCQLDAustralia
| | - Ian H Frazer
- Faculty of MedicineUniversity of Queensland Diamantina InstituteTranslational Research InstituteThe University of QueenslandWoolloongabbaQLDAustralia
| | - Guoqiang Chen
- Cancer Research InstituteFirst People’s Hospital of FoshanFoshanGuangdongChina
| | - Xiaosong Liu
- Cancer Research InstituteFirst People’s Hospital of FoshanFoshanGuangdongChina
- Genecology Research CentreUniversity of the Sunshine CoastMaroochydore DCQLDAustralia
- The First Affiliated Hospital/Clinical Medical SchoolGuangdong Pharmaceutical UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Tianfang Wang
- Genecology Research CentreUniversity of the Sunshine CoastMaroochydore DCQLDAustralia
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Lin R, Fogarty CE, Ma B, Li H, Ni G, Liu X, Yuan J, Wang T. Identification of ferroptosis genes in immune infiltration and prognosis in thyroid papillary carcinoma using network analysis. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:576. [PMID: 34315405 PMCID: PMC8314640 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07895-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common thyroid cancer. While many patients survive, a portion of PTC cases display high aggressiveness and even develop into refractory differentiated thyroid carcinoma. This may be alleviated by developing a novel model to predict the risk of recurrence. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death (RCD) driven by lethal accumulation of lipid peroxides, is regulated by a set of genes and shows a variety of metabolic changes. To elucidate whether ferroptosis occurs in PTC, we analyse the gene expression profiles of the disease and established a new model for the correlation. METHODS The thyroid carcinoma (THCA) datasets were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), UCSC Xena and MisgDB, and included 502 tumour samples and 56 normal samples. A total of 60 ferroptosis related genes were summarised from MisgDB database. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) and Gene set variation analysis (GSVA) were used to analyse pathways potentially involving PTC subtypes. Single sample GSEA (ssGSEA) algorithm was used to analyse the proportion of 28 types of immune cells in the tumour immune infiltration microenvironment in THCA and the hclust algorithm was used to conduct immune typing according to the proportion of immune cells. Spearman correlation analysis was performed on the ferroptosis gene expression and the correlation between immune infiltrating cells proportion. We established the WGCNA to identify genes modules that are highly correlated with the microenvironment of immune invasion. DEseq2 algorithm was further used for differential analysis of sequencing data to analyse the functions and pathways potentially involving hub genes. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis was performed using Clusterprofiler to explore the clinical efficacy of hub genes. Univariate Cox analysis was performed for hub genes combined with clinical prognostic data, and the results was included for lasso regression and constructed the risk regression model. ROC curve and survival curve were used for evaluating the model. Univariate Cox analysis and multivariate Cox analysis were performed in combination with the clinical data of THCA and the risk score value, the clinical efficacy of the model was further evaluated. RESULTS We identify two subtypes in PTC based on the expression of ferroptosis related genes, with the proportion of cluster 1 significantly higher than cluster 2 in ferroptosis signature genes that are positively associated. The mutations of Braf and Nras are detected as the major mutations of cluster 1 and 2, respectively. Subsequent analyses of TME immune cells infiltration indicated cluster 1 is remarkably richer than cluster 2. The risk score of THCA is in good performance evaluated by ROC curve and survival curve, in conjunction with univariate Cox analysis and multivariate Cox analysis results based on the clinical data shows that the risk score of the proposed model could be used as an independent prognostic indicator to predict the prognosis of patients with papillary thyroid cancer. CONCLUSIONS Our study finds seven crucial genes, including Ac008063.2, Apoe, Bcl3, Acap3, Alox5ap, Atxn2l and B2m, and regulation of apoptosis by parathyroid hormone-related proteins significantly associated with ferroptosis and immune cells in PTC, and we construct the risk score model which can be used as an independent prognostic index to predict the prognosis of patients with PTC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruoting Lin
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital/Clinical Medical School, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Conor E Fogarty
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia
| | - Bowei Ma
- Department of TCM Resident Training, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, Guangdong, China
| | - Hejie Li
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia
| | - Guoying Ni
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital/Clinical Medical School, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China.,Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia.,Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, 528000, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaosong Liu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital/Clinical Medical School, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China.,Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia.,Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, 528000, Guangdong, China
| | - Jianwei Yuan
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital/Clinical Medical School, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China.
| | - Tianfang Wang
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia.
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Wang T, Ni G, Furushima T, Diao H, Zhang P, Chen S, Fogarty CE, Jiang Z, Liu X, Li H. Mg alloy surface immobilised with caerin peptides acquires enhanced antibacterial ability and putatively improved corrosion resistance. Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl 2021; 121:111819. [PMID: 33579462 DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2020.111819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Magnesium (Mg) has mechanical properties similar to human bones and Mg alloy is considered ideal medical implant material. However, the high velocity of degradation inside the human inner environment severely hampers the usage of Mg alloys. In this study, caerin peptide 1.9 (F3) and a modified sequence of caerin 1.1 (F1) with anti-bacterial activity, were covalently immobilised on the surface of Mg alloys by plasma chemical click reaction. The in vitro antibacterial activity and corrosion resistance of these caerin peptide-immobilised Mg alloys were investigated in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) solution. Un-immobilised Mg alloy sample, blank drug-sensitive tablet (BASD) and a commonly used antibiotics Tazocin were used for comparison. Results showed that peptide immobilised Mg samples showed observable improved corrosion resistance and prolonged antibacterial effect compared to non-immobilised Mg alloy and free caerin peptides. These results indicate that coating Mg alloy with caerin peptides obviously increases the alloy's antibacterial ability and putatively improves the corrosion resistance in vitro. The mechanism underlying the prolonged antibacterial effect for annealed Mg alloys immobilised with the peptides (especially F3) remains unclear, which worth further experimental and theoretical investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianfang Wang
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4558, Australia
| | - Guoying Ni
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4558, Australia; The First Affiliated Hospital/School of Clinical Medicine of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Tsuyoshi Furushima
- Institute of Industrial Science, Department of Mechanical and Biofunctional Systems, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
| | - Hui Diao
- Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Pingping Zhang
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong 528000, China
| | - Shu Chen
- Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong 528000, China
| | - Conor E Fogarty
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4558, Australia
| | - Zhengyi Jiang
- School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Xiaosong Liu
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4558, Australia; Cancer Research Institute, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, Guangdong 528000, China.
| | - Hejie Li
- Genecology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4558, Australia; Institute of Industrial Science, Department of Mechanical and Biofunctional Systems, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan.
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